Hoover catching heat; Friday odds and ends (with updates)

Best part of Friday's practice was listening to DT Damione Lewis rag on FB Brad Hoover, when Hoover and the other backs took their turn catching passes from the Jugs machine.

The Hoov's been hearing it all week after dropping two passes Monday, and it hasn't been pretty. TE Jeff King asked him yesterday if he changed helmets because those two Jake Delhomme passes had broken the facemask on the old one. Hoover (perhaps the club champ in off-color humor) came back with something we can't even remotely allude to here on the interwebs, much less print.

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-- DE Tyler Brayton was fined $5,000 for unnecessary roughness, for his after-the-fact pop on Tampa WR Antonio Bryant. Maybe he thought it was Jerramy Stevens.

-- Not much else from practice of interest. LB Adam Seward (ankle) and DE Hilee Taylor (calf) are doubtful for this week. Honestly, at this point, would you notice if they were gone?

-- Actually, the best thing about showing up Friday was that the dean of NFL writers, Rick Gosselin of the Dallas Morning News, was here. When I grow up, I want to be just like him. Rick's a legend and a mentor to all of us who do this for a living, and anyone who's spent time with him is better off for it. Mostly, readers will benefit from his presence, because the man knows football inside-out and can help you move in that direction.

-- I love my readers, like a family even. And if you want me to write more about nicknames, I guess I will. But for the life of me I can't imagine that many people being that interested in someone's (other than my own) self-promotion.

I'll make you a deal. I'll only use nicknames here if they're really funny, snide, or I made them up myself. Otherwise, I ain't interested in doing somebody else's marketing for them.

For instance, I reserve the right to call WR D.J. Hackett "The Groundhog" since that one was born in training camp -- when his practicing on a sunny day meant four to six more weeks on the injury report. And until rookie FS Charles Godfrey gets more comfortable in zone coverage, I might slip up and refer to him as Charles Garmin or something.

So -- and I say this with love and caring and respect, gentle reader -- save your earnest and pithy suggestions for someone who appreciates them more. They are, like many fine things, wasted on me.